Sickness Spreads
by Whip-Owl
Summary: Whip leaves her home in the Sky Kingdom to live in Far Far Away with the help of some unusual friends. However when sickness starts spreading she and dragon must make an unlikely team to help their friends.
1. Stories

Stories

Whip sat on her pillow listening to her best friend, Star, tell a story. Whip would have liked to be the one reading, and she had a feeling Star would have like that too, but it was impossible. Whip was blind.

"'You know, I always thought I rescued you from the tower.'" Star read. "'You did.'" Whip smiled, Star used a different voice every time someone different was talking. "'No, it was you who rescued me.'" Whip sighed. She loved the stories about Shrek. "And then they shared true love's kiss again. The end."

"Wait what?" Whip jolted up. "That can't be the end."

"Why not? Shrek went back to his reality and liked it more than before."

"But what about the ogre resistance, and the witches and Rumple and the Piper. What happened to them?"

Star let out one of those fast loud breathes. There was a short silence. "Well. . ." Whip could tell Star had been thinking. "I'm not sure, but I think Shrek imprisoned Rumple, then found everyone from the alternate reality and brought them to the swamp."

"But. . .wouldn't they not remember anything?"

"I don't know Whip!" Star's voice rose in frustration. "If you have so many questions go find Shrek and ask him!"

"Easier said than done." Whip responded. Aside from being blind Whip was also a great horned owl. She'd heard somewhere Fiona could make birds blow up by singing. She wasn't sure if that was true but she didn't want to find out the hard way.

Star sighed. "Night Whip." She walked out of the room and shut the door.

Whip slumped against the wall. In all truth, she was tired of life here. She was the princess of the Sky Kingdom, and boy was that a pain. All her 'friends' were nice to her because she was royalty not because they liked her, even Star. And there were the rumors. Everyone talked, and for some reason they seemed to think she couldn't hear them. _I'm blind not deaf. _She thought.

That was just the problem really. If Whip wasn't blind she would have run away by now. She was pretty good with metal, she could go to Far Far away and become a black smith. But she was blind, so that was impossible. She wouldn't even know when she'd reached Far Far Away. She yawned. She'd been up long enough. She relaxed further into her pillow and went to sleep.

(Disclaimer:I own no part of Shrek.)


	2. Mates

Mates

The door slammed open. "Whip!" Star shouted.

Whip shot up. "I'm awake. What is it?"

"Your father wants to see you."

Whip nodded feeling nervous. "Right." She was always nervous when she went to see her father, considering he was the king that wasn't really surprising. She went to one of the draws in her room and took out her princess crown. Supposedly it looked wonderful. But she couldn't see so she really didn't care. All it did was hurt her head and represent the reason everyone whispered about her. She preened her feathers quickly. "How do I look?"

"Presentable." Star responded.

Whip nodded, gave her friend a smile, then flew out side. She was a slow flier for the obvious reasons, but it was still faster than walking. She heard everyone stop, and she had a feeling stare, when she came through. She pretended not to notice.

Whip entered the palace. Because of her metal work her dad had let her live out of it. A few of the male owls whistled and said some things she didn't want to repeat. Once again she pretended not to notice. She went to the throne room and started walking. She was still nervous but she swallowed the feeling. "Hello Father. I heard you wanted to see me."

Her father flew down from the throne. "Yes, it's good to see you daughter."

She wondered if he meant it. His voice was almost always the same tone. Plus, she knew he'd wanted a son, so she was never sure if he really was happy to see her. "And you."

"Now, I think it's high time you found a mate."

"What?" Whip felt like the world was tipping. She dug her talons into the ground so she wouldn't fall over.

"Come now Whip. You'll be queen before you know it, and then you'll need a mate."

"I don't want to be queen!" Whip whined.

"Well you're the only heir so you will be!" Her father was getting angry now. So was Whip.

"Then go have a son like you wanted in the first place!" She flew out of the door and went toward home as fast as she could. Whip was moving, it would be hard, but she no longer cared.


	3. Meeting Friends

Meeting Friends

Whip landed gently into the snow. She had to admit it had a weird feeling. Of course it snowed in the Sky Kingdom, but it never stayed on the ground and piled up. Now Whip was far away from the Sky Kingdom. She'd had to fly slowly, and packing so she'd know what was what had been interesting. But she'd done it.

She sighed, both because she was tired and because she could relax now. _So . . . now what?_ She wondered. She'd have to get some help, she didn't know where any-thing was in Far Far Away. She calmed down and listened for someone who might be able to help. She heard someone with hooves talking. _Well, let's ask him. _She wandered toward the hoofed creature. As she got closer she could hear what he and his friend were saying. "Puss look! It's a Christmas shop. Let's go."

"Donkey please, it's cold out. Let's just get what we came for and leave."

Whip gave a little gasp. "You guys are Donkey and Puss in Boots?"

"Well yeah." Donkey said it in a way that made it seem like everyone should know that. And she supposed they should. It would be hard to mistake them for anyone else.

"I'm Whip." She extended her talon. Donkey shook it with his hoof. "Um . . . I hate to ask, but I'm new around here, could you show me around."

"We're a little busy-" Puss started. Donkey cut him off.

"Sure! Come on." Donkey started off. Puss said something in Spanish then followed him. Whip walked after them with some difficulty in the deep snow. "See that's Farbucks. Great place to get coffee. I get it there all the time. And that's the bootery. But Puss is the only one who'll need to go there. That's the magic shop, don't know who runs it anymore. Let's go find out."

"Donkey, knowing how things have gone in the past, if we go in there someone will probably try to kill us." Puss cut in.

"Oh yeah right."

Whip wondered about this but not much. She had just thought of something. "Donkey, is there any place empty? You know, where a new store could be started?"

"Well sure. Come on." Donkey was off again. He began to sign. "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere I go."

Whip joined in. And Puss did to despite how upset he'd seemed earlier. They sang Christmas songs all the way to the building Donkey brought them to. _These guys are great. _Whip decided. "Well this is the place." Donkey said, stopping.

Whip jumped up the stairs leading to it and pushed the door open with her wing. "Hello?" she called out.

"It'd be kind of freaky if someone answered." Said Donkey as he and Puss entered.

That wasn't the reason Whip had called out though. Sound bounced, if she wanted to know where something was in a room all she had to do was make noise and listen for where it bounced. She walked further into the room. It must have once been a bar, there was a bar table at one end. There was also a large fire place and some hooks on the wall. "This will be perfect."

"For what?" Donkey asked.

"I'm a black smith." She emptied one of the bags for her work. "This place will be perfect for me."

"Wow! Is that a dragon statue?" Donkey wanted to know.

Whip smiled. She must have opened the back with her figurines. They were too small to be statues. "Well yes."

"Could you make some Dronkey statues for my babies?"

Whip had heard about the dronkeys. She wondered how long her work would last with them around. "Sure." She said. "Could you tell me a little about what they look like?"

"Well, they look a lot like donkeys."

"Only fatter." Puss remarked.

"Hey now. We're talking about _my _babies, _I _say what they look like." Whip tried not to laugh. "Anyway, they also have these little wings, and red puffy fur on their backs. Oo, in fact one of them is all red. That enough?"

Whip thought a little. "Yes it should be."

Once Donkey and Puss left Whip got to work unpacking.


	4. Strange Owls

Strange Owls

Whip hung her knife and hammer from a rack. They were the only two weapons she had. It didn't matter, it was hard to fight anyway. And she could always make more weapons in her forge. She had just finished unpacking.

_Now, to start on the dronkeys._ Whip started a fire and flew to where she'd put her metals. She took some out, after making sure it was a gray type, and went back to the fire. She took the metal out and stated working to get it round. That was when she heard someone at the window. _Don't most people use the door? _She wondered.

She flew to the window and opened it. "Hi!" came an excited voice. "Can we come in?"

Whip tipped her head slightly so she could hear better. There were three of them, and she thought they were owls. She flew out of the way and waved them in with her wing. "Sure. Come on in."

The three owls flew in and landed in the middle of the room. "So it's true. There's a new owl in Far Far Away and she's a black smith. You working on something?"

Whip nodded. This owl could really talk. "So, who are you?"

"Oh how could I have forgotten."

"Sorry." It was the first time she'd heard one of the other ones talk.

"I'm Moon." The main talker said.

"I'm Gray."

"And I'm Whisper."

Moon was a girl, Gray and Whisper were boys. Moon continued. "We work for the king."

"Arthur Pendragon." Gray added. Whip already knew that but she didn't mention it.

"We're his messenger birds." Moon went on.

"There are others of course. But we're some of the few who talk." Gray put in.

"And we're the only owls." Whisper said.

"That's why we came to visit you. We wanted to see another owl." Moon explained.

Whip blinked and nodded slowly. "I'm Whip. It's nice to meet you."

"You too." Moon said. She extended her talon. Whip shook it. It was getting weird to shake hands with creatures who had none.

"Moon we better get going." Gray interrupted. "Artie might need us."

"Oh right. Bye Whip! We'll see you later." Moon, Gray, and Whisper flew back out the window.

"Bye!" Whip called out. She closed the window and let out a tired sigh. Those were the most hyper, and most weird, owls she'd ever seen.


	5. Snowball Fight

Snowball Fight

(So I make the dronkeys talk in this chapter. I know they never do in the movies but their dad does so it makes sense. And I looked it up, those are their real names.)

Whip put the six Dronkeys she'd made into a bag. Then she flew outside. It occurred to her she had no idea how to get to the swamp. She stared flying back through town still not exactly sure what she'd do once she left Far Far Away. She didn't have to worry. "Hey Whip!"

Whip turned and flew towards the voice. It was Moon. "Hi Moon."

"Hi Whip. It's good to see you. What's in the bag?"

"Oh. It's something I made for Donkey."

Moon gasped. "Donkey wanted something from you. That's so cool. We've met him of course, but it's just to bring letters and such. And Shrek doesn't like us very much. Wish I knew why."

_Probably because you're so annoying. _Whip thought. All she said was "Yes, but I don't know where the swamp is. Could you help me?"

"Sure Whip. This way." Moon flew off. "Now see, there's a road here. But with all the snow it's covered up. That doesn't matter though. It's the only part of this forest that's scarce on trees. You just have to follow it and it will take you to Shrek's swamp. And you might want to fly faster than that, it's no short distance. Now I'd love to stick around, but I have letters to deliver so . . . see ya around." Moon flew away.

Whip sighed. Moon was nice, but could she talk. Whip picked up the pace a little.

Moon had been right, it was no short distance. But she managed to find Shrek's swamp. No one was outside, wait no, that wasn't true. She could hear someone in a cage having a cough attack a little ways off. _Well, that must be Rumple. _She tipped her head to hear better. From what she could gather, there were a bunch of tents pitched near Shrek's house, all of the containing ogres. _Well what do you know? Star was right. _

"Whip!" She heard hooves running through the snow.

"Donkey! It's good to see you again."

"Daddy!" there was a cry as six dronkeys flew over and "hugged" their dad sending him to the ground. "What'sh in the bag?" asked one of them.

"Well look for your-self Bananas." Donkey said. Then he opened Whip's bag. The dronkeys made strange noises and took off with the statues.

Whip smiled. They'd actually liked them. Then she felt a snout nudge her wing. "You made the mini-us?"

Whip's smiled got even bigger. "Yes."

"Thank you." Then she ran off again.

"Yeah real cute aren't they?"

Whip nodded. "They are."

"Oh wait you don't know their names yet. That's Bananas, Éclair, Coco, Peanut, Parfait, and Debbie." He pointed to each of them as he said their name but that didn't help Whip in the slightest.

Bananas suddenly landed and started to cough. Fire came out. "Yikes!" Whip shouted. She jumped back and flapped her wings to put out the fire."

"Yeah sorry about that. He's got a cold."

"No problem." Whip breathed.

The door of Shrek's house opened. "Donkey! Oh there you are. Who's this?" Shrek wanted to know.

"Oh this is Whip. Me and Puss met her in Far Far Away and she made mini dronkeys."

"Alright . . . you ready for the snowball fight?"

"Snowball fight?" Whip asked.

"Yeah every winter we have a snowball fight. Not that we've all been here many winters." Donkey explained. "Hey I've got a great idea. Why don't you join us?"

"Yes!" Whip realized she might have answered to fast. "If it's alright with you Shrek." She added, tipping her head in his general direction.

Shrek sighed.

"Come on. Please." Donkey said.

"Fine. You can join."

"Can we start now?" came a voice from his arms.

"Yeah Felicia, let's get started." Shrek assured her.

Whip had to say, she'd never been in a snowball fight before, and she doubted any went like this one. She managed to push all the snow off the roof of the outhouse and onto Shrek, then his triplets knocked her off the roof by pelting her with snowballs. The dronkeys rolled a gigantic snowball down the hill getting them all, and who knew the Piper could make snow dance? This was the first time Whip liked snow. The best part was no one figured out she was blind. She'd hit a tree but Felicia just called her clumsy and the rest left it at that.

After the snowball fight everyone went inside. Cookie made some hot chocolate that tasted so horrible Whip squirted it out of her ear tufts. After that Donkey did the trick where he put eyeballs into his nostrils and Whip copied, except she put them in her ear tufts again.

As they calmed down a little Whip asked. "Guys, can I ask you two questions?"

"Two?" Shrek wondered.

"Well, I just asked one so. . ."

"Oh, I get it. Go ahead."

Whip still hesitated. She swallowed and asked "How did you remember alternate reality?"

"Oh that. Um . . . how did you remember it?" Shrek directed at Fiona.

"Well, when reality went back to normal, of course we didn't remember anything. But . . . it felt like there was _something _we were forgetting. So when Shrek told us about the alternate reality it just sort of . . . clicked."

Whip nodded. She supposed that made sense. "So. . .who wants to sing the twelve days of Christmas?" Donkey asked.

"Oh no. Donkey, can we not?" Shrek replied.

Donkey completely ignored him. "Ah one two, ah one two three-"

"Wait!" Whip cried out. She turned back toward Fiona. "Is it true you can blow birds up by singing?"

"Well yes but-Oh."

"Man I forgot you were a bird for a second." Donkey pointed out.

Whip had a feeling he wasn't the only one who'd forgotten. Fiona tried to reassure her. "I only blow birds up by singing really high. You're not in any danger."

"Okay." Whip agreed.

She was still shell shocked though, and must have showed it because Fiona next said "Alright. No singing."

"Finally." Shrek was probably the only one happy about this.

_I will not be scared! _Whip told her-self. "Let's sing." She said confidently.

"Yeah!" Donkey cheered.

"Oh come on. Can't we wait till Christmas is _actually _here?" Shrek said.

They ignored him again. They had a very interesting version of the twelve days of Christmas. Namely, it involved onion rings, dragons, mirrors, and weed rats.

_All in all, a great day. _Whip decided as she flew away.


	6. Sick Much?

Sick Much?

Whip sat facing the fire, she felt pretty tired. There was a flapping at the window. _Well, that'll be Moon. Or Gray. _Whisper never came.She flew over. Whip opened the window. "Hi Whip!" it was Moon. Whip flew out of the way so Moon could come in. "Good to see you."

"You too." Whip lied. She was getting a little tired of Moon really.

"Did you hear-" Suddenly she broke off and started coughing uncontrollably.

"Moon? Moon are you alright?" Whip asked with concern.

"It's-it's nothing." She panted. "I've just gotten a little sick. But-*cough*-that's not important. *Cough.* Did you hear King Arthur is having a-*cough*-huge Christmas party? I'd like to invite you."

"Moon, with a cold like that you should go rest."

Moon shook her head. "Whisper has it worse. And some of the other messenger birds have it bad. *Cough.* Me and Gray have to work harder. *Cough.*"

Whip sighed, but she didn't really feel like doing it. It was more habit. She was really concerned. "I'll come. But make sure you get better. Okay?"

Moon nodded. "I took some-*cough*-cold medicine. It just hasn't-*cough*-taken effect yet." She flew out.

Whip tipped her head to window as she left. She hoped it wasn't too bad.

. . .

It was only a day or two later there was another knock at her window. Only this time it was Gray. "Hi Gray."

"Whip, Moon's gotten worse. She's staying at home with Whisper."

"What? But-but she told me she's taking cold medicine."

"She is, it's not helping. I've heard people talking, they say this is a different form of sickness, and you can't cure it the same way. It's really contagious if you're near someone. Unless you're one of the special people then you don't get affected at all."

Whip swallowed. "I take it you're one of the special people?"

Gray nodded. "I should go. I just that you should know."

Whip nodded. "Thank you Gray." She whispered softly.

As soon as Gray left Whip remembered something. Donkey had said one of his babies was sick. There were six of them living with their parents. _And if it's highly contagious. . ._"Oh no."

Whip shot through the path to the swamp faster than she knew she could move. She landed in the middle of the swamp clearing. "DONKEY!" She screamed as loud as she could.

"I'm sorry seniorita. He's sick." Puss told her.

"Puss, can you take me to him? Please? I won't stay long."

Puss hesitated. Then agreed. "This way."

Dragon sat looking at her family in sorrow. Three of her dronkeys and her beloved mate Donkey were badly sick. She didn't understand why. Only Bananas had gotten sick originally and she'd made sure to keep the cave as warm as possible. It hadn't helped. Then there was a sneeze as Peanut shot flames out of his mouth. _Make that four sick dronkeys._

Puss walked to the entrance. "Dragon, that owl from earlier wants to see Donkey."

Dragon growled. She didn't want visitors. She let the owl, Whip, come in anyway. "Oh Donkey!" she cried. "You're burning up!"

"No really. *Cough*. I'm fine."

Whip shook her head. _Is she crying? Why is she so upset? She barely even knows Donkey. _"Alright, I think you should go now." Dragon spoke in the dragon language.

Whip nodded sadly and left. "Bye-bye Whip." Debbie called after her. Then she started coughing and went back to her siblings.


	7. The Golden Flower

The Golden Flower

Whip flew as close to the ceiling as she could get. She knew no one would bother looking for her up here. She didn't think she could get in trouble for entering the palace when she was just visiting her owl friends. At least, that's what she kept telling herself, yet here she was, hiding. She heard voiced around the corner. She stopped to listen to what they were saying. _Ugh, I never liked hovering. _

"The king's gotten sick too now. We can't let him die. There has to be a cure." Someone was saying. Whip's eyes widened. _They're talking about the sickness._

"If there is a cure no one's found it yet. But here's what we'd have to do. Have you ever heard of the golden flower?"

There was a gasp. "I've heard about that. It's said to have blue flowers and red thorns."

"Really now," this one was a woman, "how can it have blue flowers and red thorns if it's a _golden _flower?"

The man gave an 'I don't know' sound. "It's just what I heard."

"Well anyway," the original talker started up again, "I hear it'll cure _anything. _Unfortunately it's no easy find."

"I'll find it." The words were out of Whip's mouth before she could think. She was a little embarrassed, but now that she thought about it, she realized she _did _want to find it. She turned the corner so they could see her. "I'll find the golden flower."

There was a silence, then the two men burst out laughing. "An owl, find the golden flower? Keep dreaming."

Whip felt her feathers shrink in embarrassment. The laughing men left. That's when the women walked up to her. "You really think you can find it?" Whip nodded. "Then I think you should go. I'll get you a map."

Whip's eyes widened. _A map! Now what good will that do me? _"Um . . . that would be very nice of you, but is there a chance you could make the map three dimensional. It would really help."

"Well . . . alright." The women seemed very confused by the request. _It doesn't matter, she's doing it. _"Come back tonight and I'll have it ready." Whip nodded. She flew out.


	8. Leave

Leave

(If anyone is reading this, review it. It would be nice to know I'm not typing to the air.)

Dragon looked sadly at her babies and Donkey. Bananas had gotten worse. He now just sat around doing nothing and occasionally coughing. Dragon let out a huge roar of both sadness and frustration. She was tired of sitting feeling sad. She had to find a way to cure them. She'd heard long ago of the golden flower. It could cure them. "Mommy, my head hurts." Debbie wined. _Oh no, now she's getting worse. _

Dragon nuzzled her with her head. "Don't worry," she growled in dragon, "Mom will make sure you get better." Then she went to Donkey. "Donkey, I'm leaving. I'm finding a way to cure you."

"But what if-*cough*-what if there is no way? *Cough.* I-I. . ."

Dragon was alarmed. Donkey had never seemed scared before. Except maybe when they first met and she tried to eat him. He was scared now though. "There is. There _has _to be. And I'll find it." She walked to the entrance and flew out. She didn't know where to find the golden flower, but surely she could find it. She had a bird's eye view.


	9. Snow Storm

Snow Storm

Dragon flew over a forest. She'd made it past Far Far Away and was now scanning the forest for anything that looked gold. She saw a small creature flying lower. _Well I am hungry. _She thought. She swooped down. _Wait . . . that's the owl Donkey's friends with. _She swerved back up so as not to eat Donkey's friend. Whip swiveled her head up. "Dragon?"

"Obviously." Dragon growled.

"What are you doing all the way out here?"

"Finding the golden flower."

"The one that will cure anything? I am too!" Whip held up a map. "Maybe we can look together."

Dragon thought a little. She would probably go faster without Whip slowing her down. Then again Whip had a _map. Maybe I can take the map when she goes to sleep. _"Okay. Let's look together."

Whip smiled. She had a cute look that reminded her of Puss. The two of them flew over the forest using Whip's map. It didn't feel like they'd been going far before Whip stopped and put her ear tufts up. "Dragon we have to land. There's a snow storm coming."

Dragon looked around. She didn't see anything to suggest a snow storm. _This is wasting time. _She thought irritably. Then again, if they landed soon, Dragon could take the map soon, and continue on her own. "Alright. There's a church down there." Dragon gestured with her wing.

She and Whip landed. Dragon opened the church door. This church was so huge, Dragon could actually go inside. It started to snow. As they entered the wind picked up. Dragon was surprised. "How did you know there would be a snow storm?"

Whip shrugged. "I felt it in the wind."

Dragon decided this was the strangest creature she'd ever met. Whip went up the stairs to find somewhere to sleep. Dragon couldn't go up there but she didn't really mind. This owl was smarter than she appeared, maybe they could do this together.

(Everything Dragon says is in the dragon language.)


	10. Gargoyles

Gargoyles

Whip woke up with a start. She could tell from the heat on her wings the sun had come out again. She doubted that was why she'd woken up though. She had never been a heavy sleeper, so she'd probably woken up from some sound. That was when she heard it. Someone was walking across the floor. Someone heavy, but not big enough to be Dragon.

Whip felt under some of the feathers, the knife was there. "Who's there?" she called out. She remained innocent looking but made sure she was ready to defend her-self.

The creature came toward her. "My apologies for waking you. But this is my home, I think I am entitled to go where I wish."

He didn't have to yell for Whip to realize this was a dangerous situation. "Of course you are." She said sweetly. "I was just wondering who you were."

"I am a gargoyle. And I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave." He growled. He definitely didn't sound afraid.

Whip tried not to be afraid either. She knew she couldn't give him an opening. "Gladly. And I'm most sorry to have invaded." She turned around and started walking toward where the sun was coming from. There must be an opening there she could leave from.

Just then she heard another gargoyle show up. She kept walking but listened. They'd lowered their voices and probably thought she couldn't hear them. "There's a dragon downstairs sir." The new gargoyle was whispering.

"Why that little-this is a set up. We have to kill them. Both."

"The owl's just a little thing. Let's get her first."

_Just a little thing? _Whip thought irritably. _I'll show you. _She stopped. One of the gargoyles was flying towards her. She waited until the last minute then jumped aside. As she jumped she expanded her wings. She took to the air, the gargoyle slammed into the wall. The other one swooped down and hit her with a stone claw she fell into some sort of post. The gargoyles were coming back for her, that is, until Dragon broke through the floor. She was bigger than them and hurled one to the side. The other came at her. She breathed fire.

Whip meanwhile was getting an idea. They pillar she had fallen into had a bell nearby. A really big bell. The gargoyle from earlier was up. It clawed at Dragon. Since it was on her back, she was having difficulty getting it. "Hey! Fight her all you want if I escape I'll bring reinforcements!" Whip lied.

"There are more of you?" the gargoyle gasped.

"Lot's more." Whip told him. He swooped at her. She clawed the rope holding the bell up. The rope broke and the bell fell down, right on top of the gargoyle.

Whip landed and took a few deep breathes. "Well, I guess we better keep moving. She went to a hole in the wall, the gargoyles and Dragon had made a few, and flapped out.

It was a while before Dragon came after her. She had a feeling she'd shocked Dragon. Her theory was proven right when Dragon said with awe "You're something else. You know that?"

"Yeah. I guess I am." Whip shrugged. Then she got out the map. "Now, I wonder where we are." She felt along the map with her talon.

"There's a church right on the map." Dragon pointed out.

"Oh. Right." Whip felt embarrassed.

"Maybe I should read the map for a little." Dragon suggested.

Whip would have rather been the one to do that, but she needed Dragon if they were going to have any more problems like that. She handed Dragon the map and Dragon steered them in 'the right direction'.


	11. Lost

Lost

Whip yawned. They'd been flying a long time. Luckily Dragon's huge wings created a breeze that made it easier for Whip to fly. She wondered where they were. Dragon didn't seem to mind if she touched the map, but they were flying too high for Whip to figure out any land marks. "Hey Dragon!" she called. "Are we lost?"

Dragon shook her head. It was lucky she had all those scales or Whip wouldn't have heard the answer. A few more moments passed. "Dragon! Are you sure we're not lost?"

"I'm sure" Dragon growled. She was getting very irritated. "I know exactly where we are."

"Oh really?" Whip ran her talon across the map. "Because you're holding the map upside down."

"I knew that!" Dragon flipped the map around. Luckily they hadn't gone too far off course. Dragon could fix the mistake quickly. She turned and they started off in the right direction once more.

(Short chapter.)


	12. Going Down

Going Down

Dragon looked down and smiled. They were flying over mountains, which, according to the map, meant they were making good progress. If they kept going they would probably find the golden flower by tomorrow.

Whip looked up. "Dragon! There's a storm coming! I think we should get down."

Dragon looked down again. "There's nowhere to land."

"Well we have to do something." The wind was picking up and Dragon could see black clouds coming. She looked for a place to land. Lighting shot down from the clouds, it hit Dragon's wing. She spun wildly out of control and started going down. "Dragon!" she heard Whip scream.

Dragon hit the ground feeling thoroughly dizzy and hurt. "Dragon! Dragon! Are you alright?" Whip landed next to her. It was a good thing she did too, it had started to rain.

"Obviously not."

Whip came closer. "Unfold your wing." Dragon reluctantly did as she was told. She wished she hadn't. She could now see a good deal of the skin on her wing had fallen off. Whip touched where the tear was. Dragon growled. Whip took a breath. "Okay, I'll see if I can help with this, but we need to get out of the rain." Dragon wasn't sure if she agreed with _needing _to get out of the rain. But Whip looked like she had just drowned or something, and lighting was still flashing so Dragon agreed.

Whip lead them into a cave. Then she hopped back out and brought in an herb. "This will help with the pain is I spread it." She explained. She spread it on the tear in Dragon's wing. It really did help. Whip walked away and started shaking the water out of her feathers.

_Something is _very _odd about this owl. _Dragon thought. Before Dragon could ask about it Whip sank into a sleeping position in the corner. Dragon sighed, she was pretty tired too. She curled up. _Donkey and the dronkeys are sick. I'm in a mountain with a broken wing with no one but an owl. What will happen to us? _That was her last thought before falling asleep.


	13. Cave In

Cave In

Whip was woken up by a rumbling, and she doubted it was Dragon's stomach. It was coming from the back wall of the cave. "D-Dragon? You awake?" Dragon didn't answer. "Dragon! Wake up!"

Dragon shifted so she was facing Whip. "What?" then she noticed what Whip had heard. Only she could see it. The back wall of the cave was falling in. She gave a roar of surprise and something starting rumbling behind her. The entrance was collapsing.

"Oh not good." Said Whip, who had just figured out what was going on. "Run!"

"Where?"

"Deeper into the cave!" Whip flew through the newly opened tunnel.

Dragon didn't like this idea, but she didn't see much of a choice. Big as she was, she probably couldn't blast through this mountain.

Whip flew and Dragon ran deeper into the cave. Then it slanted down sharply and quickly. The floor was wet too. Dragon scraped at the ground, but taken by surprise couldn't get a good hold. She started sliding. She hit Whip, who was unable to get out of the way, and they both shot down the tunnel. For a second the ground disappeared altogether. Then they hit something that clanged and came to a stop.

Whip picked up one of the things that had clanged. She felt it in her talons. It was round with ridges. _It's a coin. _She realized. A few second later Dragon roared, "Gold!" _Oh so it's a gold coin._

Dragon was impressed. She'd had her own gold hoard at one point, but she'd given it up to live with Donkey. Now here she was, seeing so much again. She wanted to take some back. Then she heard someone behind them. She turned. There was another dragon there. He was mostly blue, but had strange black stripes. "You." He growled. He seemed to be speaking English. _How did he learn that? _Dragon wondered. "What are you doing in _my _treasure room?"

"We weren't trying to be in your treasure room." Whip said apologetically. "We got lost."

The dragon looked at her skeptically. "Well you can leave now. The exit is that way." He waved his tail toward another passage way. "Just follow it and it will lead you out of the mountains."

Dragon didn't particularly want to be told what to do. But they were sort of in a hurry, and if the tunnel led them out of the mountains then it might also lead them to the golden flower. Whip jumped up and flapped to stay up. She and Dragon left with the other dragon watching them skeptically.


	14. Danger

Danger

The blue dragon walked over to his treasure and lay down on it. He didn't really have a name, if anyone asked for one he would say it was Lighting. _An appropriate name. _He thought. That was because he'd been hit by lighting, that's what had given him his strange black stripes.

He peered down the passage way again. He didn't want to fight the dragon who'd come in. She was bigger than he. On the other hand, he certainly didn't trust her, or that owl she was with. So he'd sent them to the griffins. By the time they'd figured out it was a trap it would be too late and the griffins would eat them. Or so he hoped.

(So that was another ridiculously short chapter. But hey, I had to put it in somewhere.)


	15. Griffins

Griffins

Whip flapped next to Dragon. She wondered how far this tunnel went. Then she heard something clicking a squaking up ahead. "Dragon, do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

_Apparently not. _Whip thought. "I hear something up ahead. It sounds almost like an eagle, only bigger."

Dragon stopped. "Do they have hooves?"

"Um. . ." she heard them stop what they were doing and run down the tunnel. _They're coming for us! _"Yes. And they're coming this way!"

"Turn around!" Dragon shoved her. They went back the way they came. "Those are probably griffins. And you don't want to mess with them."

"Look, another passage. Let's go." They turned off. Now the griffins were catching up. They turned and ran down the tunnel after the two. Whip heard them screech. She could figure out from their steps that they weren't as big as Dragon, but still huge. One of them clawed Dragon's tail, causing some of her scales to fall out.

The tunnel was getting narrower. One of the griffins bashed into the wall, it shook a little. That gave Whip an idea. "Dragon! Hit the wall!"

Dragon was puzzled but she did so. The cave started shaking and rocks started falling down. It was working! The griffins were falling back. The only problem was the tunnel was getting too small for Dragon. She got stuck. "Dragon!" the walls were coming down around them, Dragon would be crushed for sure. She pulled but nothing was happening. Whip had an idea. "Sorry Dragon." She flew around to the back of Dragon.

"What are you doing?" Dragon roared. Whip ignored her. She sunk her talons into Dragon as hard as she could. Dragon let out a mighty roar and pulled with all her might. She shot out of the tunnel with Whip holding on to her tail. They came to a rest at the foot of the mountain. Better yet, they were out of the mountain range entirely. Dragon hadn't liked what Whip had done, but she had to admit it had worked out rather well. "You all right?" she asked the trembling owl on her tail.

"F-fine." Whip stammered. She carefully got off Dragon's tail, looking rather shell shocked. There was a shacking from the cave. A griffin burst out of the rocks. It dove at them. Dragon hit it with her tail. It was so beat up it died right there. Dragon snorted with triumph. Whip tipped her head toward the dead griffin. "Dragon, I've got an idea about that wing of yours."

Dragon watched in curiosity as Whip went over and began to pluck the griffin's feathers. "Open your wing please." Dragon did as she was told. Whip started putting the griffin feathers into the tear. Soon she had filled it completely with feathers. "There. Now you should be able to fly."

Dragon lifted her wings experimentaly. She jumped into the air. She could fly alright, but steering was a little hard. Whip caught up with her. "Try to angle each feather in the direction you want to go." Dragon tried it. Suddenly she found her-self going down. "And relax the feathers. Tensing bunches them all up." Dragon decided it was hard to relax with this picky owl around while she was going toward the ground, but she did her best. It worked. She went up again.

Now that she had the hang of it the two of them could head for the golden flowers once more. Dragon looked around for the map. Her eyes widened when she remembered she'd left it in the cave. "Oh no. Whip, we don't have the map."

Whip was afraid, they needed the map. She forced her-self to calm down. "It's okay." She reassured Dragon. "We're really close now. We probably don't even need the map."

Dragon nodded but Whip doubted she believed her.


	16. A Map

A Map

Lighting heard something crumple under his foot. That was odd. Everything he owned was solid, not the crumpling type. He looked down at it. It was a map, leading to the golden flower. _What's the golden flower? _Lighting shrugged. _That dragon and owl must have left it. Pity they're too busy being eaten for me to ask them. _Then he heard some crashing and griffin screeching in the passage. _That doesn't sound good._

He went down the passage. He peered down one of the smaller tunnels that branched off from this one. At least it _used _to be a tunnel. Now there was just a pile of rocks. This was most interesting. He wondered if they had lived. _Well, one way to find out. And maybe I can find out what the golden flower is at the same time. _He kept going down the griffin passage. He wouldn't have to worry about them anymore. They had probably been crushed. He went outside. The two were flying. _Oh that's just great. _Lighting couldn't fly because of his injury. He was a fast runner though. He raced after them and gave a roar.

Dragon swooped down. "You!" she growled. "You were trying to get us killed!" she got closer in the attack position. The owl flew down and sat nearby.

"Now hold it . . . I've got this." He held up the map. Dragon stopped coming after him. "Uh-huh. That's what I thought. You need this don't you?"

"Yes. We do." The owl said. "If you give it to us then Dragon won't kill you."

Lighting raised an eye brow. "Why should I believe you? If I give you the map I have no leverage."

"Well, if you don't give us the map regardless of what we say then she'll kill you anyway." The owl pointed out. Dragon nodded. "So what do you have in mind?"

"I believe you're going to the golden flower." Dragon and the owl nodded. "Well, you can look at it on the way but I get to keep it. Then I leave."

Dragon growled. "Fine." The two of them took to the sky again.

"Hold it! I can't fly."

Dragon growled again. "It will take forever on foot!"

"Don't worry. I've got an idea." The owl said. "Start flying." Dragon looked like she would refuse, then the owl said something he couldn't hear from the ground and she left.

The owl flew down to him. "There. It's just me now. I can't kill you. So hand over the map."

Lighting growled. He handed her the map. She started to fly away. "Oh, just out of curiosity, what's the golden flower?"

"It cures any illness." The owl replied. Then she flew off.


	17. Arrival

Arrival

Whip and Dragon had been flying a good portion of the night. Snow had started falling, so Whip had moved to under Dragons wing. So when it warmed up and stopped snowing, and not the slow way, more like, in half a second, Whip knew something strange had happened. "Dragon, what's below us?"

Dragon looked down. "It's the golden flowers! We found them!"

The two swooped down. Whip touched one of the flowers, it had thorns. She remembered what the man had said about blue flowers and red thorns and laughed. "Well, I guess we better get as many as we can." Whip started plucking the flowers and putting them in her bag. Dragon could just scoop them up in her giant claws. Once they had as many as they could get Dragon looked up at the sky. It was sunset. How long had they been gone now? "Do you think we'll make it back in time?" Whip asked. It was obvious she was worried.

"We have to." Was Dragon's only response.

The two of them were about to take to the sky when Whip thought of something. "Dragon, the flowers are supposed to cure any illness. Maybe they can fix your wing."

Dragon hadn't thought of that. She ate one of them. Her wing sealed up. "Clever. Now let's go." the two of them took to the sky once more.


	18. The Beast

The Beast

Dragon and Whip flew back over the mountains carrying the golden flowers. It was amazing how much faster they were going on the way back, than the way there. Whip wondered if the golden flowers had some sort of magic that was protecting them.

She jumped to conclusions too fast. At that minute there was a loud sound, one she recognized only too well. "The beast." She said.

Dragon didn't reply. Whip had a feeling she knew about the beast too. It had attacked the Sky Kingdom before and _anyone _who could fly had heard of the Sky Kingdom. The beast came over them, it was actually a gigantic goose. She hadn't noticed them yet, but Dragon was huge, it would be hard for her _not _to see them. "Don't worry." Dragon told her. "I can take care of this creature."

Whip nodded and shrunk back. She wanted to help, but truth be told she was scared of the beast. The beast noticed Dragon, it flew toward her, ready to attack. Dragon breathed fire, the beast dodged it. She got closer and Dragon had to fight with claws instead. Whip kept breathing heavily. _Come on Whip, you've helped fight griffins and gargoyles. You ran away from the Sky Kingdom even though you're _blind. _You can do this. _She told her-self.

She swooped in and started helping Dragon. The beast swung its head around and hit her. "NOOO!" Whip was startled by the cry. It hadn't come from Dragon. The voice was familiar though. It was Star. She swooped in and attacked the beast's eyes. Dragon lunged for her neck. She didn't kill the beast, but she wounded her enough to make her leave.

Then Dragon dove and caught the fast falling Whip. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"Please tell me you are." Star said as she flew down to them.

Whip nodded weakly. "Yeah I am."

"Everyone's been so worried about you. When I told you to go ask Shrek I didn't think you actually would." Whip tried to tell Star not to talk about this with Dragon here. But she couldn't do it without talking, and that would just raise questions. "And now you're friends with Dragon. Maybe you can have her over at the palace some time. Whip why were you gone so long?"

"Palace?" Dragon asked.

"Yes of course. Whip is the princess of the Sky Kingdom."

"No I'm not." Whip sat up as best she could. Considering she was in Dragon's talon that was a little difficult. "That's why I left. I don't want to be princess anymore."

Star sighed. "I knew you didn't like it. But I never knew you hated it that much."

"I didn't know you were a princess at all." Dragon added.

"I didn't want anyone to know." Whip explained. "I wanted to start over."

"We won't tell. Will we?" Dragon assured her.

Star shook her head. "Oh sorry, I forgot you were blind. No, we won't tell."

"She's _blind?_" Dragon asked.

Star looked at Whip. "You didn't tell her that either."

"It would make me seem weaker." Whip felt her feathers shrink down in embarrassment.

"Weaker? You saved me twice and all without seeing. That's _brilliant."_

Whip smiled shyly. There was a large silence. Finally Dragon broke it. "Well, now that that's settled we should really get these," she lifted the golden flowers, "back to Far Far Away."

"Right." Whip took to the sky again. As they were about to fly away Whip turned and called to Star. "You won't tell them where I am. Right?"

"Of course not. I'll tell them you died, and if you ever want to come back you can always surprise the world by doing so."

Whip smiled. "Thanks Star."

She and Dragon raced off towards Far Far Away again.

(I'm really starting to get tired of doing this story. But hey, no one's reading it so what's the rush?)


	19. Healing

Healing

Whip smiled. She could hear people, Far Far Away was close. "You can go to the swamp first Dragon." She said. "I'll take care of the really sick ones in Far Far Away."

Dragon nodded. She then remembered Whip couldn't see her. But she'd been nodding the whole trip and Whip seemed to understand so she didn't correct herself. "I'll help you here once I'm done with the swamp." She said. Then she flew away.

Whip continued on to the castle. She flew to a porch and entered. There was a guard that tried to stop her, but after everything she'd gone through recently she wasn't afraid so he failed.

There was someone in a bed coughing terribly hard. "I don't know how he'll live." Someone was saying.

"The King can't die." Someone else said.

"He won't." Whip told them. Everyone turned to her, she didn't have to see to notice that. "I have the golden flower." She took one out of the bag and went to the bed. "Here."

"What?" came the voice of the king. Actually, she remembered his name was Arthur.

"Don't talk, just eat." She shoved a few of the petals into his open mouth. Immediately his fever started going down, and he was no longer coughing.

Whip turned and started back toward the porch. "Wait!" Arthur called out.

"Love to stick around and chat. But there are a lot of other sick people in Far Far Away." She leapt off the porch and started to go to anyone who had caught the fever. Dragon was doing similar. They stopped in the center of Far Far Away once they had run out of flowers. "Was that everyone?" Whip asked. Dragon shrugged.

"I think so." Moon said. She had joined them once Whip healed her.

"Me too." Gray put in.

"Me three." Whisper added.

Whip laughed. If all three of the gossip owls thought they were done they were done. "Okay, I think we're done."

Dragon nodded. "I have to go." She flew off.

"Want to stay with us tonight?" Moon offered.

"In the palace." Gray unnecessarily added.

Whip sighed. She thought about listening to these three babble all night and shook her head. "I think I'll just go home. See you tomorrow?"

"Oh yeah." Moon said. The three owls left.

Whip flew back to her forge. She went to her pillow and sank into it.

(There will be one more chapter. I'm debating on whether or not to use the golden flower as a way to make Whip see again. It takes away some of her character but. . .)


	20. Whip

Whip

Whip splashed some water over the fire, obviously it went out, and sat down at the bar table. There was a flapping of huge wings outside. Whip grinned. After the golden flower incident she and Dragon had become fairly good friends.

She flew outside. "Hello Dragon."

Dragon roared a greeting. "Did you hear Arthur wants to talk to you?"

"Yeah. Moon told me a few days ago at three in the morning."

"So, why haven't you gone?"

Whip shrugged. "I think I'll avoid royalty. I'm happy how I am, why go looking for more?"

Dragon thought about this. She supposed this made sense. "Well . . . you want to come visit the swamp?"

Whip smiled. "Sure." They took to the sky. Whip didn't have to fly low or slow now. Dragon would guide them.

They didn't fly directly to the swamp. They flew to Dragon's cave first. The dronkies ran out and flew around them, followed closely by Donkey. "Hey Whip! Good to see ya."

Whip smiled. "It's good to see you too Donkey." One of the dronkies ran her over. He laughed. "Oh you think that's funny do you?" she said. She jumped into the sky and chased him around. The others flapped after them. Whip liked it here, she liked the dronkies as well.

It was getting late when Whip was going to leave. Before she could though, Dragon came up and stopped her. "Whip, you really like our dronkies don't you?" Whip grinned and nodded. "Well, as they get older they could cause more trouble. You know, when me and Donkey aren't around."

"Yeah. I guess they could. You're going to suggest something now aren't you?"

Dragon nodded. "I think you should help take care of them."

Whip's eyes widened. "Wh-why me? I mean, there's Shrek and Puss. . ."

"Shrek has his own kids to take care of. And Puss, well, let's just say he's getting tired of doing it."

Whip nodded slowly. She smiled at the thought of what Puss would say when the dronkies set his tail on fire. "I'd love to." She said. Then she went a little further away. "I'll see you to help with the dronkies soon." Then she took to the sky and headed back to Far Far Away.


End file.
